Animal models for human carcinomas are valuable tools for the investigation and development of cancer therapies. However, several human carcinomas have proven exceptionally difficult to grow in animal models. For example, in spite of considerable effort, surgical specimens of human breast carcinomas have been resistant to growth in a variety of animal model systems, including the anterior chamber of the eye of guinea pigs, lethally irradiated or thymectomized mice and nude and SCID mice. In nude mice, the incidence of tumor take is low even when the animals are supplemented with estrogen, and those tumors that do grow exhibit amplification of the HER-2/neu oncogene, which has been correlated with poor prognosis. Thus, the best of the present models are only effective for a limited category of extremely malignant carcinomas, and no acceptable animal models are presently available for the general experimental study of human breast cancer. The need for animal models is even greater for human prostate and ovarian cancers where, to date, less research has been conducted.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved animal models for the study of human breast, ovarian and prostate cancers. The present invention fulfills these needs and further provides other related advantages.